Give Me Hope
by MariDragion23
Summary: The smiles that shine the brightest, distract from the eyes that cry the hardest. For all jovial people have gone through so such pain, that they put so much effort to keep holding on. They laugh and care for others, even though they may be being eaten alive by despair. Everytime they lay down to sleep, they cry themselves into slumber. For you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover.
1. Chapter 1: The Preposition

**WARNING:** Within this story, lies extremely dark themes such as self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, and etc. Reader caution is advised.

 **DISCLAIMER:** I only own the plot and the events within this story, all else belongs to Hiro Mashima.

 **BETA READ:** My big sister and all loving friend, Nikki! ( _**NIchiki**_ )

 **COVER ART:** Belongs to _**Leons-7**_ on tumblr

 _ **Chapter 1: The Preposition**_

Crystallized transparent snowflakes rained down briskly towards the white blanket that hid the grass. It was obviously Winter in Magnolia, anyone could see that and even if you were blind the chill in the air was like a red warning sign. Extremely hard to miss. It was already a quarter past seven in the morning and the sun was already up due to the time skip that had occurred a month ago.

The blonde walked down the street wrapped in a purple pea-coat, complete with a black beanie to keep her head warm. She took careful slow steps down the icy sidewalk silently giving thanks that someone had thought to plow the sidewalks clear of snow sometime early that Saturday.

Lucy Heartfilia noticed absently she was the only one outside so early in the morning and in such freezing weather. The busty Junior, had no idea herself as to why she had to be out in those conditions. Well for the most part at least.

She continued down the street until she spotted her destination, a run down off white building settled against whitewashed bricks surrounding it. She pried open the sturdy, ancient looking door and walked into a small waiting room. The white room was full of chairs, plastic plants, people, and the smell of desperation. The combination made her dizzy and a bit nauseous.

Lucy walked straight to the counter, and stood in front of the lady behind the desk until the secretary seemed to look up from her files with a downright unfriendly look. Lucy wondered why she was even working there if she obviously didn't like interacting with people and wondered if her face would freeze like that if she kept up that grouchy look. Sort of like she was perpetually sucking on lemons.

"How can I help you?" The woman said with fake empathy.

"I have an appointment." The blonde sighed, wondering why she always had to deal with grumpy people.

"Name?"

"Lucy Heartfilia." The lady added Lucy in her computer for showing up.

"Okay, you can go on ahead."

Without waiting for her to finish her sentence, Lucy walked off towards the door behind the desk. Honestly, this wasn't Lucy's first time going to "counseling" or what she referred to as just plain hell. In fact, Lucy had to meet with her therapist every Saturday at 7:45. This was her 4th month attending a session since she was forced into "healing."

If it wasn't for her best friend, she wouldn't be apart of this. Levy McGarden forced her into this, for Lucy's safety.

.x.

"Lucy you need to stop!" The petite girl grabbed the blonde's wrists.

"Ya, ya..." Lucy replied, jerking her arms away.

"I'm completely serious! I love you like a sister Lu-chan, and it hurts me to see you doing this to yourself."

"I love you too Levy, but this is just how I am, and you have to accept me like this."Lucy argued crossing her arms in anger, which also hid her wrists.

"This isn't about not accepting you for you. If you can't stop, could you at least go to therapy or something. Please!" She pleaded.

"It's not like I'm hurting anyone." Lucy's eyes darted to the side, not wanting to see the hurt on her friends face.

Tears were streaming down the bluenette's cheeks as she moved to keep Lucy's eyes locked with hers. "Lucy please... You're hurting yourself. If you don't get some sort of treatment, then I'll cut too." In a quick motion, Levy reached for a butter knife and hovered it over her arm. "Is that what you want me to do? Would it matter if I did?" Lucy flinched at what her best friend was about to do.

"Stop Levy!" She rushed over and grabbed the knife from her hand. "I'll go, just stop. You don't need to cut yourself."

"Do you promise?"

"Yes." With that declaration, she loosened her grip on the knife and let Lucy take it, putting it back in the drawer.

"I'll go with you to sign you up tomorrow, but for now, you'd better not cut. If you do, then I will too." She said with a sob, but Lucy could tell she was deadly serious.

"Fine."

Lucy turned around, wanting to desperately get out of that situation, heading towards her bedroom. Right when she was turning the knob, she spoke one last thing to the still weeping girl.

"By the way Levy, you would have to get that knife sharpened if you wanted to actually self-harm It's too dull, trust me, I would know." She said disappearing behind the door.

.x.

Since that incident, Levy would check up on her every Saturday to make sure the blonde was up and ready and if she wasn't, she would force her up and out of the house. Plus, the blunette would go to the facility and check with the nurses to make sure she showed up and even would wait for Lucy to get out.

Even though Lucy thought that that was annoying, what Levy was doing showed how much she cared for the blonde. In her own, obsessive way.

Lucy rapped the door with her knuckles waiting for a sign that she could enter.

"Yes?"

Upon hearing a response, she opened the door, shutting it behind her, and began walking to sit on the couch she usually reclined in. A ratty, pretty beat up looking couch that looked like it had seen better days and the color reminded her of a pukey green.

"How have you been, Lucy?" The red-haired man said looking over at the teen with that warm friendly smile he always seemed to have on his face.

"If I said, 'fine,' I think you would be able to tell I'm lying. So, I'll just say I'm neutral."

The doctor brushed his bangs out of his face in order to get a good look at the blonde. Her wrists were still covered in red and white scars, the varying colors depended on how long ago she created them.

"Have you narrowed down the amount of self-harm you've been committing, at least?"

"Sorry Dr. D, but no."

Lucy laid down on the couch, getting comfortable for the appointment. He was sitting in his usual recliner with a clipboard and a pen in hand as he studied her and wrote down notes once in a while. Of course, he would write down everything she said, then reflect on it in order to determine a way to "help" her. She sometimes wondered if he was just doodling on that pad of paper just to make her paranoid.

"I told you not to call me that, but to call by my last name." He said sighing at her.

"Nah, I like calling you Dr. D." The blonde giggled at the somewhat suggestive name. His last name actually started with a "D," henceforth her nickname for him. Didn't take a lot of brain cells to come up with that.

"Anyways Lucy, I was hoping today you'd finally be able to tell me why you do it." The man spoke cautiously, his gaze sharp and focused on her as he asked the one question she had no answer to.

For the past 4 months, he'd attempted to get any information out of her that he could, but she just wouldn't tell him why she self-harmed.

The only thing he knew was really how her school life has been, and that was only part of the reason. He knew what they called her at school, the foul utterly despicable names. The horrendous actions and pain that everyone caused her but, that was all he knew. He needed more if he was going to help her, but she was being stubborn and not giving an inch.

"Please Lucy, if you don't tell me any reasons to why you self-harm, then it seems as if you're just cutting to cut. If you don't tell me, then I may just have to admit you into an institution or-"

"I've already told you." The blonde interrupted him, with a hint of attitude in her voice. She didn't want to be told that she needed to go enter some kind of institution. That's the one thing she dreaded.

"You've only told me about what's been going on at school, and I've already contacted your principal about how everyone has been treating you. Plus, you've already told me that that wasn't the reason you've been cutting." He pointed out as he spoke in a rather serious manner. His red eyebrows had furrowed while speaking to her, yet he wasn't aggravated. He needed her to know how very serious he was about this.

"It used to be a reason, until I started standing up for myself." Lucy breathed in a huff. He looked at her in thought, then quickly jotted down some notes.

"Can you tell me anymore reasons?" he asked, not looking up from his furiously writing pen.

"Maybe, next week."

"Okay, fine." He slumped. "So, do you have any new friends?"

Lucy didn't even hesitate to answer, "Levy is my only friend. She has always been my only friend."

The red-haired man began pondering. He really wanted to help her make more friends, because he thought that if she had more friends then perhaps she wouldn't be so lonely and maybe, just maybe she wouldn't feel the need to cut anymore. But first things first, baby steps.

He knew that his son went to a school in Magnolia too, Fairy Tail Academy and he always spoke so highly of the place, and it helped that Dr. D knew the headmaster. He'd also learned over time that FTA had a very safe and family-like feel to it and nobody got pushed around because everyone was basically family. Only once or twice had there been any serious issues with people not getting along so that said a lot for how well the institution was being run.

That's when a light bulb seemed to just magically click on in his brain.

He jotted down his thoughts on a separate piece of paper as he ran through how he could get her to agree with his suggestion. Of course, the decision would be totally up to her, but if she disagreed he could always ask Levy for her opinion and find a way to work around her, but if she thought his idea was a brilliant one, then his plan could commence.

He just hoped she wouldn't be too difficult.

After he wrote down his idea, he handed Lucy the slip of paper then voiced his idea aloud, "Here's the deal, I know you live with your friend at y'all's apartment together and you go to the local Magnolia High School. The fact that you go there could be playing a big part with when, how, or why you self-harm. So, I propose that you change up your daily situations a bit. For instance, you could come stay at my house with my family for at least a month and switch to a nearby school. I would be able to see how you're doing at the same time and in return, I promise I won't submit you into any sort of care facility." he finished, waiting for her to process all the information.

The blonde's eyes widened at his idea. That was definitely not what she'd expected as she glanced down at the slip of paper and read it silently. It contained an official notice saying she would be moving out of that school system and into another one, with Mr. Dragneel's signature scrawled along the bottom.

"I don't know about staying with your family..." Lucy said a little nervously. She didn't think it was a bad idea, but she wasn't sure if it was a good idea either. They were practically strangers and she would be living in his house, with them?

"It's just my wife, daughter, son, and I. C'mon, I really think this would be a great idea." he urged with a small smile.

She looked to him, then back to the slip of paper, the idea bouncing around in her brain as she thought of all the pros and cons that would be accompanying this ordeal. If she really moved in with his family, she would have to be very cautious when she chose to cut and she was sure he would not be the only one watching her with the gaze of a hawk.

"Fine, as long as I don't have to go to any kind of mental institution. Plus I have to be able to visit Levy whenever I want, no exceptions."

"Of course, you can have today and tomorrow to pack and I can enroll you in the nearby Academy today. Tomorrow afternoon, I can pick you up and bring you to our house so you can start school Monday." Dr. D spoke with glee suppressing a wide smile knowing it would probably rub the blond the wrong way. He was ecstatic he'd thought of such a great idea that could benefit Lucy's situation in such a strong way.

"Okay then I guess, but if anything goes wrong I'm going to go pack up and and go back to live with Levy." The teenage girl replied, looking very serious.

"Of course, if anything I want you to just stay for at least a month."

Lucy opened her purse to check her phone, it read 7:59am. "Okay, well it's almost time for me to go so you can look up my address in my information papers or whatever." She grabbed her purse and stood up walking to the door, more then ready to get out of there and think over probably the biggest decision she'd ever made.

"I'll turn this in too." She spoke gesturing to the note.

Dr. Dragneel nodded. "Remember, Sunday afternoon we'll pick you up."

"Okay."

The teen left out the door and began walking down the hall towards the main office. Her boots made soft sounds, as they touched the tiles as she practically speed walked out of there. She had a lot to tell Levy.

When she arrived back to the waiting room, Levy was in the room sitting down reading a magazine only to look up when she finally sensed the blonde nearing her.

"So how did it go?" The bluenette asked with a genuine smile.

"Well, hard to say really, but he seems to think adding a new person to his family might do me a world of good."

 **X.O.X.O.**

 **A/N:** _I feel this may have been somewhat rushed, but I spent 3 or so months rereading this chapter and trying to perfect it as much as I could until I just kind of decided that I was finished. This story will be a way of how I'll express some inner emotions while trying to get back into writing. In the past, I'd update my stories frequently, however I've had hardly any motivation to write anymore. So that's why I put my other account on hiatus, and I'm focusing on starting new with the story so I can return back to normal with my writing schedule._

 _Please don't pressure me to update so often, if you're a writer too, you know how it feels to get, "update update update" when you're "busy busy busy." Please bare in mind that I won't update too often, sometimes maybe it takes me a month or maybe even a day, it depends._

 _I'm not sure if I want Nikki to beta read every chapter, so probably just any chapter I'm unsure on, because I don't want to overload my sis hehe. If she does beta, I'll mention it at the top. :)_


	2. Chapter 2: The Introduction

**WARNING:** Within this story, lies extremely dark themes such as self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, and etc. Reader caution is advised.

 **DISCLAIMER:** I only own the plot and the events within this story, all else belongs to Hiro Mashima.

 _ **Chapter 2: The Introduction**_

The sound of rain solemnly trickling down the window sent a sense of remorse through Lucy. It seemed as if the clouds could sense her emotions, and decided to cry along beside her. Perhaps in pity, or maybe just to let the girl know she wasn't alone. That she was important enough for the weather to share a mutual emotion with her.

Her fragile finger tips inched to her escape, she had attempted to refrain from the method, but to no prevail.

Once the silver paintbrush was in her palm, she brought it towards her canvas;her wrist.

She painted with careful and deep strokes, emitting red paint. The blade sneered against her creamy skin, breaking the beautiful exterior to her body.

Five strokes for every tear that streamed down her flushed cheeks: ten, fifteen, twenty...sixty...eighty.

"I'm so sorry, Mama...I wish I wasn't such a disappointment...But I just turned out so fat, ugly, such a slut, and just so worthless, just like everyone at school says I am." Her soft, strained voice muttered in despair, believing every word she'd been told.

Upon her comment, a soft knock was heard on her door, catching the blonde's attention.

"Lucy, don't forget you need to start packing, Dr. Dragneel said he'd be by soon, remember? I'll help you if you want me to," A soft sweet voice called out from the other side.

"I already finished, but thank you...I'll be down in a minute." Lucy said, putting so much effort into making sure her voice didn't crack.

She stood up, hiding her blade back between two books in her bookshelf. After placing the item there, she walked over to her bathroom in her room to wash her arms.

As she turned the faucet on, she placed her wrists beneath the cold water, flinching at the stinging pain coming from her new wounds.

Even though she was plenty adapted to the feeling, seeing as she has up to 200 new cuts weekly.

After the blood dripped down her wrists for a good while, she wrapped gauze around her arms, absorbing the blood from seeping to her sleeves to her hoodie.

Once she completed her procedures, she pulled down her sleeves to hide her scratched up arms. Then, she turned to her room to take her bags and suitcase to the living room.

"Are you okay, Lu-chan?" Levy called with somewhat of a pout on her face.

"Yah, I'm fine...I'm just going to miss you a lot." Lucy slightly lied, covering it up with a true statement.

"I'm going to miss you too, but this new situation will help you immensely with your health." The blunette smirked, trying to think positive.

Lucy just slightly grinned at her comment in reply.

With their main farewells said, the two exchanged a few more last words, and shared an embrace.

"I'll check up on you soon, and don't forget to call me." The petite girl spoke.

"Yah, yah, I know, _mother_." Lucy said sarcastically.

The blonde then grabbed her luggage and took it outside with her, pulling on her her hoodie to protect her hair from the rain, which at that point, was only sprinkling.

As soon as she brought her last bag out of the front door, the man ironically pulled up at her driveway, giving the girl a trademark smirk.

"You ready for a new adventure?" He called, before motioning to his car.

 **X.O.X.O.**

The family of three waited patiently upon the door, for Igneel to return to the household with their new guest.

Grandine had made sure that the domicile was completely clean and prepared for the blonde to reside in. She wanted to make a good first impression.

She had repeatedly gone over manners and procedures with the two children to certify that Lucy had a pleasant stay.

The only thing she was worried about was her son, Natsu. He was always the type to say what he felt, and do everything without a second doubt. He'd mostly likely say something rude that could possibly scare her off.

"Now Natsu...please just try your best to have manners and to treat our guest nicely." She sighed, while fixing her bun and making sure all the strands were in place.

"Yah, yah, I know. I'll treat the new goose nicely..." He muttered, in the kitchen, grabbing a bag of chips to stuff in his mouth.

"Natsu, I'm pretty sure she's talking about our new guest, not a goose..." Wendy, his half sister mumbled softly.

Grandine just sighed, and just shook her head at her stepson's response. Even if Natsu was clueless about the new girl, at least Wendy would have enough manners for the both of them.

"Nevermind...She'll be arriving soon, so make sure to clean up your food after you finish, because I already cleaned the kitchen earlier." Grandine said, as she started walking towards the boy who was scarfing down salty potato chips.

With a swift movement, he tossed all the contents in his mouth, then rolled the bag up and tossed it into the trash can nearby.

"Got it." He said proudly.

The woman slightly rolled her eyes, before hearing a car pull up.

"Ah, they're here. Places everyone!" She cheered somewhat nervously.

Wendy jumped up from her position on the couch, and Natsu slowly, reluctantly shuffled over to the door.

Once they got to the hallway near the entrance, a car door was heard signaling that they had exited the vehicle.

Wendy's heart sped up in excitement, to meet the new member, Grandine couldn't help a grin sneak upon her face, clearly elated, and Natsu...well his heart was racing at thought of eating some pizza rolls that they had later.

When the door knob finally clicked, surprisingly, _all_ their breaths (slightly in Natsu's case) hitched.

Igneel was the first to walk in, with a bright grin upon his features.

He stood proud and confident and announced, "Everyone, welcome 'Lucy Heartfilia' to the family."

As she followed behind him, she gave a slight smile in greeting.

Her golden locks shimmered in the light, each strand reflecting, adding a shiny look to her hair.

Her face looked like every girl's idea of perfect beauty, so nobody would be surprised if they discovered she was a model or anything. She had bold, doe, chocolate brown eyes that gazed at the family in endearment.

Her supple baby pink lips curled up into her smile that was actually real, unlike other times.

She wore a long sleeve black hoodie with a pink skull on it that was just her exact size, showing every curve of her torso. She wore dark blue denim jeans to match the look. A pair of dark pink converse were situated on her feet for the last finishing touch.

Her look, all in all, was simply stunning. However, only from what a normal person could view at the that time.

"Hello." She greeted them in a soft angelic voice.

The two girls didn't hesitate to shout a calm synchronized, "Hello!"

The pinkette boy, however, stared in awe even forgetting to greet the girl.

"Welcome, Lucy. We're so glad you're here!" The woman cheered stepping aside, so the two could walk in the house.

"Thank you for having me." She replied in gratitude.

Igneel walked in, dragging her pink suitcase behind him. "If you follow me, I'll show you your room first." He spoke, walking down the hallway towards the bedrooms. With a slight nod, the blonde followed him towards her new room.

When they finally arrived, Lucy's eyes took in the whole scene in admiration. There was normal furniture like a bed, nightstand, and dresser located in the room. The walls were painted a peach color, and there was a pink and zebra theme added. The sheets, curtains, and lamp matched the theme of it all. There were other simple accessories such as hangers inside the mirror closet and a jewelry box in front of the large mirror on top of the dresser.

She loved the room so much, a smile immediately overtook her face in gratitude. "Thank you so much for the decorations and furniture y'all placed in my room." She gushed, surprising the man.

"Of course, we just want you to feel comfortable." He replied with a grin, while setting her luggage in the closet. "I'll let you get settled in first, and you can come down when you're ready, and I'll properly introduce you to my family."

She gave him a simple nod in response, "I'll be down soon then."

With that comment, he left the room with a simple stride, leaving the girl to continue admiring her new residing area. She tossed all of her clothes in drawers, and hung her jackets up quickly so she wouldn't keep the family waiting too long. As soon as she finished, she turned towards the door, and left down the hallway towards the living room.

As soon as she stepped through the doorway to the room, she gazed at the family of four sitting upon the couch. In her eyes, they all looked so enthusiastic together baring bright expressions. The young boy pouted and seemed to be muttering something incoherent under his breath, while the rest of them appeared to be bursting into spurts of laughter at the the pink haired guy.

Just by peering at the four, made the blonde girl burst into a full blown smile, dimples and all.

She almost didn't want to walk in a disrupt them, but she knew that the polite thing to do was to formally introduce herself to them.

"H-hello?" She finally spoke up, walking in, resting her hands against her denim jeans.

Almost immediately as she greeted them, they all turned to her in an instant.

"Hey, Lucy! Come on over." Grandine said motioning her over towards them. The teen girl strode on over to her, walking pretty confidently.

Once she reached them, Igneel introduced them, "Okay, I'm glad you got settled. So my wife here is Grandine, my son is Natsu, and my young daughter is Wendy."

As he called out their names, she took a glance at each of them.

Grandine had long beautiful purple hair, that was strewn in a neat bun. She had calm brownish purple eyes that glistened with joy in the reflection from the television. She didn't appear all too young, but not very old. She seemed to maybe be in her early 40's, due to her light lines upon her face. She had a relaxed demeanor at first site, and it made Lucy feel a sweet home feeling. Something she wasn't at all adapted to.

Wendy looked so adorable in the blonde's eyes, that she almost wanted to engulf the young girl in a big hug. The pre-teen had long hair similar to her mother's, except it seemed a darker shade of purple that looked almost blue. She was around twelve, and she looked exactly her age. Her eyes were a plain chocolatey brown, truly revealing that the girl wasn't fully related to her half brother….Natsu

The teen boy looked to be around Lucy's age, seventeen. His sakura pink spiky locks stood out the most out of his whole appearance. His dark green-onyx eyes watched hers in return, as she averted her gaze to study him more. He had dark tanned skin, and he seemed well built for his age. Not that she was looking or anything.

Of course, she already knew what Igneel looked like. He had spiky hair much like his son's except it was a way darker shade, that was obviously a red. With that, he looked really similar to his son, except just older.

"It's nice to meet you all." She replied, not feeling the need to announce her name since they already knew it.

Even though they were just four people of of the hundreds in that city alone, they instantly had an impact on her. Even if the effect was small that day they met, it really did mean a lot to the girl. For she'd never had a real family before, but these people were all she needed to learn what it was like.

 **X.O.X.O.**

 **A/N:** _Sorry for the delay, I started writing this awhile back when I had a sudden surge of inspiration. I'm barely finishing this up now, because I'm still starting to brainstorm some ideas for NaLu week haha. (Even though Day 1 is technically tomorrow .) Now I'm watching this new anime on Netflix, called, "Nana." And holy crap it's emotional, so I'm watching that and writing. Ahhhhhh so I apologize for any mistakes since this is unbetaread._


	3. Chapter 3: The New Beginning

**WARNING:** Within this story, lies extremely dark themes such as self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, and etc. Reader caution is advised

 **DISCLAIMER:** I only own the plot and the events within this story, all else belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Chapter 3: The New Beginning

Mondays, the most dreaded day of the week. It wasn't the day itself that was horrible, it was the fact that it's the first day to get on schedule with events. Although, it didn't chose to be first in line, so maybe it was under appreciated.

However, when Lucy's alarm on her phone blared real loud, she didn't give a crap what day it was. She just hated the fact that she had to wake up nonetheless

The blonde was sure no angel who slightly stirred when waking up. She was like most ordinary people, waking up groggily and with her hair in mild tangles everywhere on her face.

After rubbing her eyes, blinking them open to the harsh sunlight, she reached over and swiped off her alarm. Slowly, and reluctantly, she sat up vaguely regaining consciousness.

When she started looking around the room, she was shocked to see a different interior than she was adapted to. She was in a small state of confusion, until she remembered that she was staying at the Doctor's house for awhile.

She stayed sitting up for about five minutes, with her eyes half lidded closed, before she took of the fuzzy blankets that were over her legs, and stood up from her bed.

Her brown orbs were about almost fully open, as she trudged her way through the door and out into the hallway. She was adorned in her long sleeve shirt and pajamas pants seeing that it was winter. However, the family kept the house pretty warm, but she still had to wear long sleeves and pants for... _certain reasons._

It took her only a few moments for her to remember that the bathroom was down the hallway and to her left, before she started heading down towards it. Her nose caught the faint scent of bacon and eggs, also smelling the grease and hearing the sound of sizzling.

She wasn't used to all of it… The breakfast, the family bonding, it was all too new. Although the girl certainly didn't mind it all, it was actually nice.

Once she arrived at the bathroom door, she saw it closed signaling that someone was already occupying the room. She crossed her legs, a childish thing she learned to hold in her pee.

She hadn't gone to the restroom in eight hours, and she had a lot of water in her bladder to dispose of. Take mind, it was also her time of the month, making the pressure to pee even stronger.

Lucy stood there anxiously, honestly about to scream at the person in the bathroom to hurry up, before the door finally opened almost making her pee in surprise. As the person calmly walked out through the doorway, she quickly averted her chocolate orbs to glance at him. She noticed who it was immediately by his pink locks, and she almost gave him a hug judging on how elated she was to finally use restroom, but she refrained from doing so, seeing as she rushed to the toilet.

As soon as she shut the door, and ran to the toilet seat she could hear him softly chuckle and mumble, "Weirdo."

* * *

Now Lucy knew Fairy Tail Academy had a required uniform, because her two new younger family members were adorned in, but since she didn't own the specific outfit, she wore an outfit of her choice. Of course that just consisted of her trademark jeans and dark hoodie, that hid the fact that she was just wearing a bra underneath.

"Natsu, make sure you stop with Lucy at the office to make sure they get her school uniform in." Grandine announced, in a sing song voice, and she placed the sizzling bacon from the hot pan onto the plastic plate in front of her.

"Yah, sure." The pinkette mumbled nonchalantly, quickly snatching a strip of bacon fresh off the plate, not even flinching at the singeing grease that was being emitted from the piece of meat.

Lucy's eyes were glued to the boy in bewilderment as he gulfed the bacon in his mouth, and swallowed it without hesitation. Now there is a big difference between strange and unnatural, and Natsu was appearing like the second option.

"Natsu, you could wait until I put the food on the table." The woman slightly scoffed, setting the plate down onto the plastic tablecloth.

The younger of the siblings giggled at her brother, before softly muttering a thanks to her mother for the breakfast. Grandine quickly turned back to the stove, and took ahold of the other black pan filled to the brim with scrambled eggs.

She scraped the contents onto another a plate, and brought it over to the family. "Okay, now eat up everyone."

Her husband and children sure complied with her announcement, seeing as they immediately started serving themselves.

Lucy held back until the family had already collected their portions before she attempted to grab hers. By the time they all finished filling their plates, there was only a few slices of bacon and a small section of clumps of eggs.

The blonde didn't mind all too much, and she was quite glad they didn't leave her much and they weren't taking notice of her serving, seeing as she just grabbed a single slice of bacon.

The one thing Dr. Dragneel, or mostly referred to as Igneel, wasn't aware of was the teen's eating disorder. She was mostly facing anorexia, but also struggling with occasional bulimia.

Of course that was due to past experiences of being called fat, even though the girl clearly wasn't.

She slowly took bites of the food, while occasionally taking sips of the glass of water that sat in front of her plate. That alone filled her up, especially with her stomache adapted to the small portions.

The family finished eating within time, and threw away each plate into the trash bin afterwards. There weren't many dishes, so Grandine just set the remaining pots and utensils in the sink to wash later.

"You kids better get going soon, you've got about half an hour before the first bell rings, and you still have to check in at the office, Lucy." Igneel announced, glancing at the clock that was upon the kitchen wall.

"Okay, dad." The youngest replied, softly before running over to grab her small, bright blue backpack. She beamed joyfully, before walking over to the front door to wait on the other two.

Unlike his younger sister, Natsu trudged his way slowly over towards where he had tossed his backpack from the previous time he got home from school.

Lucy kept an eye on the two as she eventually followed behind them towards to front door, slowly and bit reluctant. I mean, who in the right mind wants to go to school?

She reached her small hand out towards the metallic knob, and turned it, opening the door with little effort. The cool breeze of winter hit the girl like a slap to the face, the climate sure wasn't being nice to her. Of course she didn't mind too much, since she had her hoodie on of course.

The blonde let out a light sigh, before stepping out onto the wet pavement of melted snow. Here's to another day.

* * *

It didn't take long for the three to walk to school. The middle school in the area wasn't too far from the high school, so the young Wendy had walked with the two teenagers until they had to part ways. Once she left, Lucy felt pretty awkward left with the hyper boy.

She was just following behind him, without saying a word to help memorize their path for future travels. As she was trying to have a tranquil atmosphere the pink haired boy was running his mouth at the most random topics, she couldn't even believe.

"If I had to chose between hot pockets and pizza rolls I'm not sure what I would chose. They're both pretty good, but hot wings are my favorite. I love spicy food and anything hot. Maybe it's because I grew up loving dragons, but I mean who doesn't. Hell dragons are awesome, what am I saying? Wendy likes dragons too, and that's cool because we both share our love for dragons. Although she doesn't tolerate heat and spice like I do." It was practically just him talking to herself much less than him actually conversing with her.

The blonde just nodded and shared a half meaningful smile to his words, she didn't want to be rude but she had no clue what he rambling on about.

"Well look at that, we are. Welcome to Fairy Tail, Lucy!" Natsu finally called out with a wide grin, causing a warm feeling to overtake her heart while was new to her. How did his simple smile make her feel that way? "I'll show you my friends," He spoke immediately taking off, forgetting to bring her along.

Lucy let out a light sigh, not surprised the oblivious boy ran off without her forgetting his intention to bring her. She just continued on towards the front of the skin. As she walked through the snowy sidewalk, trying her best not to slip on the ice, she looked around the campus to view her new surroundings.

Her chocolate brown eyes skimmed over all the students just to see them separated in cliques. Lucy was smart enough to be able to tell the groups apart. Jocks, geeks, cheerleaders, band kids, etc. It wasn't much different from any other high school in existence.

When she finished scanning through the students, she finally caught sight of Natsu again. He stood in a group of teenagers that all seemed very loudly. A black haired boy had shoved the pinkette, and Lucy could tell the two began fighting as she overheard their argument.

She couldn't help but laugh, walking up to the group curious as to what her new roommate was up to. Upon seeing her walk up, he lit up with a grin and stopped fighting with the other guy.

"Oh hey Lucy, meet my family here at Fairy Tail!" He announced so cheerfully, it made the blonde smile genuinely in return. At the time Lucy didn't even question as to why this boy was finally giving her the chance of happiness she'd practically forgot what it felt to experience.


End file.
